Jump to Newspack custom events
Google Auto Events
When Enhanced measurement is activated, GA4 will automatically track the following events and parameters on every page. There is no need for additional code on your site.
| Event | When it’s triggered | Parameters collected |
|---|---|---|
| page_view | Each time the page loads or the browser history state is changed by the active site | – Page location (page URL)– Page referrer (previous page URL)– category (of page)– author (of page) |
| scroll | The first time a user reaches the bottom of each page (i.e., when a 90% vertical depth becomes visible) | No parameters are collected |
| click | Each time a user clicks a link that leads away from the current domain (i.e. all outbound clicks) | – Link classes – Link domain – Link ID – Link URL – Outbound |
| view_search_results | Each time a user performs a site search, indicated by the presence of a URL query parameter | – Search term |
| video_start video_progress video_complete | For embedded YouTube videos, the following events are triggered: – video_start: when the video starts playing – video_progress: when the video progresses past 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% duration time – video_complete: when the video ends | – Video title – Video URL – Video duration – Video percent – Video current time |
| file_download | When a user clicks a link leading to a file (with a common file extension) of the following types: – document – text – executable – presentation – compressed file – video – audio | – File extension – File name – Link classes – Link domain – Link ID – Link text – Link URL |
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9216061
If you connect Google Analytics and Google Ad Manager, ad-specific events, dimensions, and metrics are automatically collected as well.
Newspack Auto-Collected Events
Newspack also has a default set of auto-collected custom event tracking to supplement GA4’s auto-collected events. We try to be very intentional about what we add as custom events. Generally, we reserve them for high-signal interactions that are broadly applicable across publishers and clearly tied to decision-making around audience growth, reader identity, or revenue.
For example, block-level interactions (for example, slideshow interactions) tend to be very granular, highly context-dependent, and difficult to interpret consistently at scale, which makes them a poor fit for Newspack to include. GTM is the right place for this kind of tracking.
If you wish to view these custom events and parameters in your GA account, some manual effort is needed on your side: connect the GA API and enable custom dimensions.
| Event | When it’s triggered | Parameters |
|---|---|---|
| np_reader_registered | A user successfully registers a new reader account. Requirement: A Newspack reader account method must be used: – Registration block – Newsletter Subscription Form block – “Create an account” modal | – registration_method – newspack_popup_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack Campaigns prompt – gate_post_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack content gate – sso: If the event was triggered by the “Sign in with Google” button, this will be true – referrer – ga_session_id |
| np_reader_logged_in | A user successfully logs in. Requirement: A Newspack reader account method must be used: – “Sign In” modal using password or one-time passcode – Magic sign-in link – “Sign in with Google” button | – login_method – newspack_popup_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack Campaigns prompt – gate_post_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack content gate – sso: If the event was triggered by the “Sign in with Google” button, this will be true – referrer – ga_session_id |
| np_newsletter_subscribed | When a user successfully subscribes to a newsletter. Requirement: A Newspack newsletter signup method must be used: – Registration block – Newsletter Subscription Form block – “Create an account” modal – My Account > Newsletters dashboard | – newsletters_subscription_method – lists: IDs of the lists the user subscribed to – newspack_popup_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack Campaigns prompt – prompt_title – gate_post_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack content gate – sso: If the event was triggered by the “Sign in with Google” button, this will be true – referrer – ga_session_id |
| np_prompt_interaction | A user interacts with a Campaign prompt. | – newspack_popup_id – prompt_title – prompt_frequency – prompt_placement – action (loaded, seen, dismissed, clicked) – action_type (donation, registration, newsletters_subscription) – prompt_has_donation_block – prompt_has_registration_block – prompt_has_newsletters_subscription_block – registration_method (if action_type is registration) – donation_suggested_values (if action_type is donation) |
| np_gate_interaction | A user interacts with a Newspack content gate. | – gate_post_id: The post ID of the content gate itself. – gate_has_donation_block – gate_has_registration_block – gate_has_checkout_button – gate_has_registration_link – gate_has_signin_link – action (seen, dismissed) if action is form_submission then: – action_type (registration, signin, donation, or checkout_button) if action_type is donation, then: – donation_frequency – donation_amount – donation_currency if action_type is checkout_button, then: – action_type – currency – is_variable – price – product_id – product_price_summary – product_type – recurrence – variation_id (only if is_variable) – referrer – ga_session_id |
| np_modal_checkout_interaction | A user interacts with a modal checkout transaction. | – action (opened, loaded, dismissed, continue, back, form_submission) – action_type (donation, checkout_button) – referrer if action_type is donation or checkout_button: – amount – action_type – currency – product_id – product_type – recurrence – variation_id (only if is_variable) – newspack_popup_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack Campaigns prompt – prompt_title: if the event was triggered from a prompt – gate_post_id: If the event was triggered from inside a Newspack content gate – referrer – ga_session_id |
Additional Newspack Event Parameters
These parameters are also added to all events, where applicable.
| Parameter | Example value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| logged_in | yes | no | If the user was already logged in when the event was triggered. This will be yes for any logged-in user account, not just reader accounts. |
| is_reader | yes | no | If the user was logged into a reader account when the event was triggered. |
| is_newsletter_subscriber | yes | no | If the user is subscribed to one or more newsletter subscription lists. |
| is_subscriber | yes | no | If the user has an active subscription to a non-donation product. |
| is_donor | yes | no | If the user has made a one-time or recurring donation. |
| categories | Featured, News | A comma-delimited list of categories associated with the post that triggered the event. |
| author | Author 1 Name, Author 2 Name | A comma-delimited list of author names associated with the post that triggered the event. |